Friday, March 12, 2010

abortion: term paper

this could have been better if i had time to sit and work on it.. i just wrote what was coming out of my mind, random words without a second look..

I. Introduction

There are two types of abortion, one is the spontaneous abortion, the expulsion of an embryo or fetus due to accidental trauma or natural causes, or in other words, miscarriage. The second type is the induced abortion, which is done due to several reasons, save the life of the pregnant woman, preserve the woman's physical or mental health, terminate pregnancy that would result in a child born with a congenital disorder that would be fatal or associated with significant morbidity, selectively reduce the number of fetuses to lessen health risks associated with multiple pregnancy.

What I am going to discuss is about abortion done when the mother does not want to continue her pregnancy whether if she is still young and she got pregnant, or she cannot afford another child.

Abortion is illegal in the Philippines and in other countries. The Philippines is a Christian country and believes that abortion is murder. There were several arguments whether it is illegal or it is just okay.

I have read and heard and watched lots of real stories about abortion. Really horrifying, some mothers throw the fetus in the garbage, in the river, or leave them in public comfort rooms. Some even died due to complications of the abortion, and some went mentally insane, maybe because their conscience cannot hold the fact that they killed an innocent baby.

According to research, despite legal restrictions, in 1994 there were 400,000 abortions performed illegally in the Philippines and 80,000 hospitalizations of women for abortion-related complications. 12% of all maternal deaths in 1994 were due to unsafe abortion according to the Department of Health of the Philippines. Two-thirds of Filipino women who have abortions attempt to self-induce or seek solutions from those who practice folk medicine.

II. Effects to the Society

A. SinPeople may just play around, outside marriage, you know, have premarital sex and will never think that they have done an immorality because they can just remove the baby from the womb anytime. Okay, they sinned, and then, they sinned again. The fact that there is so called abortion that is practiced makes people think it is okay to do ‘it’, that if a baby is formed, they can just remove it from the womb. They will think it is as easy as that.

B. ImmoralityIf abortion will be legal, then people would say that same sex marriage and homosexuality are okay. They may use it to justify their sinful acts.

C. DeathOf course, abortion could be fatal. I have read that some even use metal coat hangers to insert into the woman’s vagina to puncture the baby! Ew! Then, if the coat hanger is rusty, then the woman gets tetanus, then, kaboom. Dead.

D. AwarenessPro life, pro choice. There is this certain organization named ProLife, which is an advocate against abortion. People are getting aware of abortion due to these organizations.

III. What the Bible Says About Abortion

Exodus 20:13 "..thou shalt not kill.."John 1:3-4 "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men."John 10:17-18 "I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."Proverbs 8:36 "But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death."Genesis 42:22 "Spake I not unto you, saying, do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required."Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."2 Samuel 12:13 "I have sinned against the LORD. The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."

IV. My Opinion as a Christian and as a Student

Life is beautiful. Children are gifts from God. See the joy a child makes? When a baby smiles, and laughs, his parents are in great happiness, just seeing their baby sleep. Life is given by God. Who are we to take it away.

Some say, its not a baby that is being taken from the womb, it is just a tissue. That is foolish. So when does life start? When the baby is born?

Life takes a process to form. It starts when the baby is conceived in the mother’s womb.

Abortion creates heated arguments between people. There are a lot of questions asked, ‘How if the mother cannot afford to raise another child?’ ‘How if the mother is too young?’ ‘How if she is just a rape victim?’ ‘How if she is still studying?’ ‘How if the pregnancy will cause her humiliation?’

Okay, the mother will suffer the consequences of her actions. She will be put to deep shame for being pregnant early, or she cannot afford another baby. But after all those humiliations, blessings will come. We do not know, how if the baby is a blessing? If she cannot afford to raise it, there are people willing to help, the orphanages, DSWD.

I have heard a story told by my mother. My brother is enrolled in Tot’s Tutorial Center. In that same tutorial center is a very smart child, he can read at the age of three. He is very talented. He sings, dances, paints, and writes poems at age six. He knows how to play the piano, and now he is taking up violin lessons at Music World. This child, a very talented child, is a real blessing to his parents. And you know what, he is adopted. He was adopted by a taxi driver. Once his father had a young woman passenger, crying. She is pregnant, and still studying. She does not know what to do. The man who fathered the baby ran away, after knowing she got pregnant. She asked for help to abort the baby. He said that he will take care of the child, just not to abort it. He will provide the expenses for her check up and hospitalizations, just don’t abort it, he said. See? A baby nearly aborted became a huge blessing to those who accepted to take care of him.

A child could be accidentally formed in the womb but God has plans for this child, just like each one of us.

V. Reflection / Conclusion

God created life. And He has the right to take it away. But people want that right too, to take away life.

God loves us and has a purpose and plans why we were conceived. Early pregnancy could be really humiliating, really shameful to the family, but God will turn that problem into blessings.

Abortion is not the answer. A mistake cannot be corrected by another mistake. For me, people who think that a baby in the womb is just a tissue are all foolish and heartless. Why don’t take a look into the ultrasound and see? A baby with a heart, eyes, legs and arms. It is a baby, obviously.